The Big Give 2009 Christmas Challenge raises £3 million in 2 hours
Charities Trust, which is non-profit making, is a national Payroll Giving and corporate donation management agency that enables organisations and their employees to pass donations to thousands of charities on a regular basis and has worked with The Big Give to raise millions for charity over the last three years.
The Big Give and its partners are celebrating this week after they raised a massive £7.7million for charity, the first £3million of which was raised in just 2 hours! Charities Trust, a charity donation facilitator, ensures donations are made in the most tax efficient way, managing the donations on behalf of The Big Give and handling in excess of 7,000 pledges during the course of last week.
Charities Trust, which is non-profit making, is a national Payroll Giving and corporate donation management agency that enables organisations and their employees to pass donations to thousands of charities on a regular basis and has worked with The Big Give to raise millions for charity over the last three years.
Jason Doherty, Head of Marketing at Charities Trust, said: “The Big Give managed to smash their original £6million target and reach a massive £7.7 million total. It is our privilege to be part of this fantastic philanthropic initiative, making for a very merry but busy Christmas here at The Big Give and Charities Trust offices.”
Jason said: “Our website is the payment conduit that sits behind The Big Give. Managing donations from £5 to £50,000 that then need to be collated and transferred to up to 6,000 charities requires an effective system that we supply. We work with full service digital agency Chapter Eight to supply a secure, safe and easy to use payment gateway which is fully integrated with our website and that allows every donation to be tracked, monitored and transferred to the correct charity.
“Clearly, many individuals give to charities either on a regular direct debit basis, from their salary through Payroll Giving or one off donations often to mass charity appeals. We know many people would give a regular donation to charity but don't have the time to get round to setting up a Payroll Giving or direct debit donation. However, what is appealing for people who are time poor is the inducement of having their donation matched.”The Big Give raised this incredible total by creating a matched fund - generated through a combination of trustees, major donors and the charitable Reed Foundation – which was then used to double donations via its website, www.thebiggive.org.uk, between 7th and 11th December. Over 175 charities registered to be part of the scheme, and these include the Princes Trust, WWF and the National Trust.
Alec Reed, founder of The Big Give, said: “In our first two years, The Big Give has raised millions for charity, matched several wealthy donors with new charities, and inspired a new generation of philanthropists.”
The Reed Foundation, which brings together philanthropic individuals in support of targeted charitable initiatives, gave responsibility to The Big Give to oversee the £6 million matching fund, making it the largest match donation programme that UK charities have ever experienced.Alec Reed CBE, set up the Reed Foundation several years ago, with the intention of supporting good causes and charities with profits from the corporate organisation he established in the 1960 called Reed Recruitment. The Big Give, funded by the Reed Foundation, was launched in 2007 to provide high wealth individuals with a quick and easy way to locate charitable projects in their area of interest.
Mario Thomas, managing director of Chapter Eight said: “The Big Give is an excellent opportunity for donors to give twice as much to their favourite charity than they normally would. We’re excited that this very busy event in our annual ecommerce calendar has once again exceeded all expectations and the technology has easily managed with the tremendous loads put on it throughout the campaign.”For more information on The Big Give please contact James Thomlinson on + 44 (0)20 7861 2516, + 44 (0)7708 386 288 or email jthomlinson@bell-pottinger.co.uk
For further information about Charities Trust services please call Jason Doherty on 0151 284 1433 or via email jason.doherty@charitistrsut.org.
For information about the payment gateway, the website and set up please contact Fiona Cartwright on 0113 227 0800 or email fiona.cartwright@chaptereight.com.